Body found in Thurston County ID’d as missing Seattle woman

A body found Thursday in the woods off of Old Highway 101 in the Steamboat Island area has been identified as a 41-year-old woman who had been reported missing out of Seattle, according to the Thurston County Coroner.

Because next-of-kin has yet to be notified, the coroner’s office will wait on releasing the woman’s name to the public, Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock said.

The woman was identified Monday by matching her fingerprints with a fingerprint database belonging to the Washington State Patrol, Thurston County Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said.
A Department of Natural Resources crew found the body about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, in a remote wooded location near Old Highway 101 north of Whitaker Road NW.

Elwin said investigators are no closer to determining how the woman died. Her cause and manner of death are classified as “undetermined,” Elwin said. An autopsy over the weekend determined her body showed no signs of trauma, such as broken bones, or homicidal violence.

Toxicology results from the woman’s autopsy are still pending.
Thurston County detectives are now trying to answer the question of how and why she ended up in such a remote location, Elwin said.

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The Today File is a general news blog featuring real-time coverage of Seattle and the Northwest. It is reported by the news staff of The Seattle Times and includes stories from The Associated Press and McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.